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On the Relationship Between Metaphor and Technology: a Comparative Study on Nanotechnology
Kotlík, Pavel ; Hájek, Martin (advisor) ; Vincent, Bernadette Bensaude (referee) ; Konrad, Kornelia (referee)
At the turn of the millennium, the most developed countries began to take interest in nanotechnology, that is, technologies defined by their precise nanometer-level functionality, but also by their substantial, realised, or anticipated changes in industry and medicine. At the European policy level, nanotechnology has become part of the pan-national governance principle, accompanied however by low public awareness of the benefits and risks. Nanotechnology engenders gradual, albeit very controversial transformations where actors adopt various communication strategies. The dissertation presents an analysis of the relationship between metaphor and nanotechnology. Neither metaphor nor nanotechnology is a neutral resource to be freely exploited, but both have significant implications for the strategic efforts of actors who use them. The study has the objective of exploring the social representations of nanotechnology in the various local (cultural) contexts of their medialisation and investigating the isomorphism which exists between metaphorical structures and the evolution of nanotechnology controversies. The theoretical part considers the role of metaphors in constructing social representations of nanotechnology and in translating between there and then and here and now. These representations and...
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Interspecific hybridization in Acrocephalus warblers.
Majerová, Veronika ; Reifová, Radka (advisor) ; Kotlík, Petr (referee)
Acrocephalus warblers have gone through the adaptive radiation during last severalmillion years, which gave rise to thirty one species occupying mainly Eurasia,Africa and Australia. The majority of species are morphologically very similar,however, they differ in ecological requirements, migration strategy, and song.Interspecific hybridization seems to be quite common among Acrocephaluswarblers, not only between sister species, but also between more distantly relatedtaxa. The main goal of this study was to determine whether this hybridization leadsto gene flow between species and which factors affect the rate of interspecific geneflow. For this purpose we conducted population-genetic analysis in three Europeanspecies of the Acrocephalus warblers of the subgenus Notiocichla: reed warbler (A.scirpaceus), marsh warbler (A. palustris), and blyth's reed warbler (A. dumetorum).Our results based on the analysis of sequence data from eight nuclear loci indicate,that gene flow between the studied species occurs, but only in one direction. Thegene flow is higher between genetically more related species than betweenecologically more similar species. We also estimated that the reed warbler and themarsh warbler diverged approximately 1,1 million years ago. The blyth's warblerand ancestor of the reed and marsh warbler...
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Notions of after-life and meaning of death in Zuni society
Ručková, Eliška ; Řezáčová, Vendula (advisor) ; Kotlík, Pavel (referee)
Bachelor's thesis called Visions of the afterlife and the importance of death for the Zuni Indian tribe is trying to provide a comprehensive view of the funeral rituals and death beliefs among the selected society of the Puebloan Indians. At first, I try to outline the historical background of the development of the Zuni tribe, along with a brief description of the manner of life and religion and its changes, especially under the influence of Spanish conquerors and Christian religion. After that I am trying to put topic itself into this outline. The paper also briefly deals with selected myths that are one of the main sources of ideas about the afterlife among Zuni for this thesis. The thesis devotes most attention to the afterlife along with funerary ritual. The main objective of this work is both to see how ideas about the death of Zuni reflect their society, and what is meaning of death for them. The paper strives to show that importance of death is in the context of maintaining the unity of a society that is so typical for this tribe.
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Promethean technology: Discourse analysis and narrative construction of meaning
Kotlík, Pavel ; Kandert, Josef (advisor) ; Balon, Jan (referee)
Cílem práce je porozumění významu propojení současných a revolučních technologií s mýtem "O Prométheovi". V teoretické rovině jejich metaforické propojení považuji za heuristický nástroj sociální racionality, která má přisoudit realitě určitý smysl, má alegoricky vyjevovat na první pohled nezjevné významy moderních technologií. Představuje také imaginární vztah lidí k "reálným" podmínkám jejich existence, které se zároveň reflexivně ustavují. Prostřednictvím diskurzivní analýzy a analýzy narativní konstrukce, přistupuji k analýze mýtu v oblasti biotechnologií, jaderných technologií a technologie vzdělávání. Zde na základě historického významu mýtu odhaluji dva režimy vyprávění mýtu o technologii - triumfální (triumf) a katastrofální (spád). Oba plní důležitou úlohu v oblasti mocenských praktik. Triumf a spád se reflexivně opakují v různých technologických oblastech na základě narativní konstrukce ze strany aktérů - jsou diskurzivními formacemi. Aktéři těchto diskurzů vybírají vhodné paralely ze dvou metaforických částí, mýtu i technologie, aby vyhovovaly reprezentacím adekvátním smyslu jejich ideologie. Skupinovým vyjádřením těchto ideologií vznikají i tzv. prométheovská společenství. Diskurzivně tvárný, prométheovský mýtus bez místních a časových omezení ožívá i v 21.století. Metafora je součástí...
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Systematics, Phylogeny and Biogeography of the gecko genus Hemidactylus (Reptilia, Gekkonidae) in Arabia and the Near East.
Šmíd, Jiří ; Moravec, Jiří (advisor) ; Kotlík, Petr (referee) ; Rehák, Ivan (referee)
(in English) Until relatively recently, the gecko genus Hemidactylus was considered to contain only several hard-to-distinguish species in the eastern Mediterranean and the Arabian Peninsula. This was mostly given by the apparent morphological uniformity of the geckos in combination with their often synanthropic lifestyle, which facilitated the dispersal of some of the species over large ranges. However, our understanding of the diversity of the genus was about to change with the onset of molecular phylogenetic methods that became extensively available and routinely applied to tackle the questions of systematics and phylogeny of all kinds of organisms. This thesis focuses on resolving the phylogeny, systematics, and biogeography of the Arabian Hemidactylus. Using an unprecedented sampling of over 500 samples of more than 40 Hemidactylus species from the eastern Mediterranean, Arabian Peninsula, Socotra, North and East Africa and Iran and sequencing up to six genes (two mitochondrial - 12S rRNA, cyt b; four nuclear - cmos, mc1r, rag1, rag2) I reconstructed the time-calibrated phylogeny of the arid clade of Hemidactylus, inferred its complex biogeographical history in the region, and detected seven potentially new species. The results of the biogeographic analyses indicate that the current...
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Adaptive population shifts in response to climate change
Horníková, Michaela ; Kotlík, Petr (advisor) ; Munclinger, Pavel (referee) ; Bryja, Josef (referee)
Adaptive population shifts in response to climate change Ing. Michaela Horníková, Doctoral thesis Abstract Understanding of species' reactions to past climate and environmental changes is a hot topic in many fields of biology as it is relevant also for addressing species' future under the contemporary climate change. Using an emerging model species, the bank vole, I combine genomic phylogeographic data with information on known intraspecific functional variability and environmental niche modelling and aim to elucidate the particular role of intraspecific variation and ultimately selection in shaping the species' response to the climatic and environmental changes after the end of the last glaciation. Based on the mtDNA markers, bank voles exhibit a complex phylogeographic pattern suggesting population replacement events during the postglacial recolonization of Europe and thus possible involvement of selection in the process. An extensive dataset of more than 6000 SNPs was used to search for signs of population replacement in the bank vole genomic DNA and to investigate the species' postglacial recolonization history throughout its European distribution range. The genomic data revealed even more complex population history than previously detected with mtDNA markers, including not only admixture but also...
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On the Relationship Between Metaphor and Technology: a Comparative Study on Nanotechnology
Kotlík, Pavel ; Hájek, Martin (advisor) ; Vincent, Bernadette Bensaude (referee) ; Konrad, Kornelia (referee)
At the turn of the millennium, the most developed countries began to take interest in nanotechnology, that is, technologies defined by their precise nanometer-level functionality, but also by their substantial, realised, or anticipated changes in industry and medicine. At the European policy level, nanotechnology has become part of the pan-national governance principle, accompanied however by low public awareness of the benefits and risks. Nanotechnology engenders gradual, albeit very controversial transformations where actors adopt various communication strategies. The dissertation presents an analysis of the relationship between metaphor and nanotechnology. Neither metaphor nor nanotechnology is a neutral resource to be freely exploited, but both have significant implications for the strategic efforts of actors who use them. The study has the objective of exploring the social representations of nanotechnology in the various local (cultural) contexts of their medialisation and investigating the isomorphism which exists between metaphorical structures and the evolution of nanotechnology controversies. The theoretical part considers the role of metaphors in constructing social representations of nanotechnology and in translating between there and then and here and now. These representations and...
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Mitogenomic phylogeography and adaptive evolution of the bank vole Clethrionomys glareolus
Filipi, Karolína ; Kotlík, Petr (advisor) ; Munclinger, Pavel (referee)
This thesis is a part of the project aimed at sequencing the genome and transcriptome of the bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus). The role of natural selection in the evolution of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has been subject to much discussion; while some studies did not provide evidence that selection affected the phylogeography of the studied species, other considered adaptive evolution important. The bank vole is the key model we use to study the adaptation to climate change. As with other species, the phylogeography of the bank vole has been based on the variation of a small part of mtDNA. The goal of the thesis was to sequence the entire mitochondrial genome for representatives of all main mtDNA lineages of the bank vole using the Sanger and Illumina technologies, and to assess the role of selection and adaptation in the evolution and phylogeography of this species. The adaptive evolution in mtDNA probably was not the main driving force during the postlacial colonization of Europe. However, signatures of adaptive evolution have been found - an amino acid change with possible functional consequences in one gene and an excess of radical changes in physical- chemical properties of amino acids in populations at the latitudinal (northern and southern) extremes of the bank vole distribution. Key...
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Systematics, Phylogeny and Biogeography of the gecko genus Hemidactylus (Reptilia, Gekkonidae) in Arabia and the Near East.
Šmíd, Jiří ; Moravec, Jiří (advisor) ; Kotlík, Petr (referee) ; Rehák, Ivan (referee)
(in English) Until relatively recently, the gecko genus Hemidactylus was considered to contain only several hard-to-distinguish species in the eastern Mediterranean and the Arabian Peninsula. This was mostly given by the apparent morphological uniformity of the geckos in combination with their often synanthropic lifestyle, which facilitated the dispersal of some of the species over large ranges. However, our understanding of the diversity of the genus was about to change with the onset of molecular phylogenetic methods that became extensively available and routinely applied to tackle the questions of systematics and phylogeny of all kinds of organisms. This thesis focuses on resolving the phylogeny, systematics, and biogeography of the Arabian Hemidactylus. Using an unprecedented sampling of over 500 samples of more than 40 Hemidactylus species from the eastern Mediterranean, Arabian Peninsula, Socotra, North and East Africa and Iran and sequencing up to six genes (two mitochondrial - 12S rRNA, cyt b; four nuclear - cmos, mc1r, rag1, rag2) I reconstructed the time-calibrated phylogeny of the arid clade of Hemidactylus, inferred its complex biogeographical history in the region, and detected seven potentially new species. The results of the biogeographic analyses indicate that the current...
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Culture of Fear: Discourse Analysis of Šluknovsko Media Event
Tremčinský, Martin ; Hájek, Martin (advisor) ; Kotlík, Pavel (referee)
This paper deals with the discourse analysis of media case Šluknovsko, which erupted in 2011. It focuses on the construction of the risk arising from Šluknovsko crisis, relying mainly on Beck's theory of risk society. Paper through the analysis of newspaper articles from the autumn of 2011 shows how base on a local crisis based national and global risk associated with ethnic minorities are constructed. At the same time paper shows how the media construction of risk is connected with a process called glocalization, in which are locally limited and specific incidents correlated with transnational processes, in order to create global risks. Furthermore, this paper identifies actors, based on local narratives that are constructed in the case, which are, according to media, responsible for dealing with a crisis and the resulting risks. In conclusion, the author considers the potential impacts that such a risk discourse can have on government policy.
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